The Providence Journal
Tom Robinson - PawSox 3 Iron Pigs 2
The PawSox managed to pull out the win by getting two-out hits with men in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings. Chris Carter tied the score in the eighth and Jeff Bailey won it on a broken-bat infield hit in the ninth. Lincoln Holdzkom (5-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, and Jon Switzer pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save. The PawSox went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position while the IronPigs were 1-for-7.
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Bailey continues to excel as a leadoff hitter, a spot the 29-year-old former catcher had never been asked to fill. Bailey is third in the International League in homers and RBI.
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Bailey came through earlier. He had a hand in all three runs while going 3-for-4 with a walk. Bailey opened the scoring with two out in the fifth, when he hit a 51-mph eephus pitch by R.J. Swindle to right field to drive in Dusty Brown.
Full Version: Sox Minor League News Links, Mon. June 16, 2008
Stephanie Storm - Sea Dogs snap out of a slump, end Aeros' run; Portland avoids a sweep at Akron with an 11-2 victory that stops the Aeros' win streak at 10.
The Sea Dogs regrouped quickly after Akron took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with two hits, two walks and an error against starter Kris Johnson.
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Portland pounced on Aeros starter Ryan Edell in the second inning. Mark Wagner opened with a double, and John Otness was hit by a pitch. Consecutive singles by Ryan Khoury, Iggy Suarez and Bubba Bell tied the game and left the bases loaded.
Two Akron errors coupled with hits by Jeff Corsaletti and Wagner and a bases-loaded walk to Otness produced four more runs and gave Portland a 6-2 lead.
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After the rough first inning, Johnson turned in a solid start. He held the Aeros to two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven in six innings.
Willie T. Smith III - Drive rally for win over Augusta
Trailing by one run in the eighth, Greenville scored five runs in the inning to claim a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over the Augusta Greenjackets in front of 4,552 at Fluor Field.
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The Drive, which concluded the first half 40-30, entered the bottom of the eighth trailing 3-2. They managed to parlay three hits, a walk and a hit batter into five runs against three Greenjacket pitchers.
David Mailman's two-run double with two outs and bases loaded put the Drive ahead 4-3.
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Catcher Ty Weeden followed with a three-run homer that skipped over the top of the Green Monster.
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Greenville starting pitcher Terumasa Matsuo allowed only one earned run on three hits and two walks, striking out three in seven innings.
Willie T. Smith III - Drive enjoy first-half success
The Drive have been a Jekyll-and-Hyde team during the first half, posting a 27-8 record on the road, while stumbling to a 12-23 mark at Fluor Field.
The team scored 4.176 runs at home versus 5.54 on the road. The pitching staff owns a 4.93 earned run average at Fluor, opposed to a 3.53 ERA on the road.
While disappointed with the ability of his team to take advantage of its home environment, Boles is pleased with its ability to focus and take care of business in hostile environments.
Another point of pride has been the ability to move players up the ladder. Several players have advanced since the start of the season. Since that is the main role of all minor league teams, Boles is pleased. He is even happier with the progress those athletes have made since leaving the Drive.
Outfielder Josh Reddick is hitting .332 with 12 home runs, six triples and five doubles in 49 games at high-A Lancaster. He owns a team high .598 slugging percentage.
Other Greenville players promoted were outfielder Aaron Reza (Lancaster), pitchers Chris Province and Bryce Cox (Lancaster) and pitcher Daniel Bard (Double-A Portland).
The Lowell Sun
Chaz Scoggins - Manager, team older and wiser
We're a little bit older this year, and a lot of guys have been in extended spring training. The pitchers are already stretched out," notes Gary DiSarcina, the former Billerica High star and California Angels All-Star shortstop who is beginning his second year as Lowell's manager.
The Spinners have five position players back, including left fielder Carlos Fernandez-Oliva, who hit .307 with 17 doubles and 42 RBI last summer and finished tied for fourth in the NY-PL with 82 hits. Also back is center fielder Rafael Cabreja, who hit .348 with nine RBI over his last 18 games in 2007 to finish at .250-2-25.
Right fielder Kade Keowen (.207-1-15 in 39 games), third baseman Deshaun Brooks (.208-2-12 in 34 games), and second baseman Ryan Dent (.178-0-3) with 4 steals in 11 games with Lowell, .371-1-2 in 10 games in the GCL) are also with the Spinners.
Also back is righthander Joseph Guerra (1-3, 5.48). Guerra finished strongly last year, however, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in his last five outings.
"But this can be a double-edged sword because I'm going to be expecting more out of them," DiSarcina allows, "maybe more than I should."
Chaz Scoggins - Middlebrooks didn't punt on his chance to join Sox organization
Middlebrooks was projected to be a sandwich or early second-round pick in last year's draft after going 13-0 as a pitcher and hitting .556-5-48 with 22 doubles and 22 stolen bases in 38 games for Liberty-Eylau High School in Texas. Baseball America tabbed him as the 15th-best position player available in the draft and 36th overall.
But the 6-4, 200-pound Middlebrooks was also projected to have NFL potential as a punter, and he had already accepted a football scholarship to Texas A&M. He was reportedly looking for a $1 million bonus, so MLB teams shied away.
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money recommended by the commissioner's office, it took the remainder of the summer for his contract to be approved. By then it was too late for him to start his career in the minor leagues.
The question for the Red Sox was whether to let him pitch or play the infield. In the minor-league section of the 2008 Red Sox media guide, Middlebrooks is listed as a pitcher. But he wants to play every day, and he says the Red Sox did not argue.
Although he missed a year of pro ball, Middlebrooks doesn't think he has a lot of ground to make up.
"I'm not too far behind," he says. "I went to the Florida Instructional League, and I got a lot of at-bats in extended spring training."
Nor is he concerned about the scrutiny that comes with being a fifth-round pick with a first-round bonus.
"I don't look at it as pressure," he says. "I look at is as something that will spark me."
Middlebrooks is looking forward to spending his first pro season in Lowell.
Chaz Scoggins - Keowen wants to make second stint a short stop
LOWELL -- Kade Keowen's first year in pro ball was a difficult one. But he doesn't consider it a wasted one, even though he's back in Lowell for a second summer.
Before last year's draft, Baseball America found the 6-5, 230-pound outfielder to be one of the more intriguing prospects among the publication's Top 200.
"With plus speed and raw power and a slightly above-average arm, there's not a better big player in the draft," was BA's assessment.
The Red Sox chose Keowen in the ninth round after he hit .401-10-61 with 14 stolen bases in 56 games at Eunice JC in Louisiana and signed him quickly to a contract with a $125,000 bonus. But because the bonus was above the recommended amount for the slot, the commissioner's office had to approve it, and Keowen wasn't cleared to play until the end of June.
The Spinners had been playing for nearly two weeks by then, and Keowen felt he had a lot of catching up to do. He hit .300 in his first six games, then strained an oblique muscle that put him on the shelf for another 2 1/2 weeks.
When he finally got back into the lineup, it was pretty much downhill the rest of the way.
He hit only .207 with 11 doubles, 1 homer, and 15 RBI in 39 games for the Spinners and struck out 47 times in 145 at-bats.
Chaz Scoggins - Manager, team older and wiser
We're a little bit older this year, and a lot of guys have been in extended spring training. The pitchers are already stretched out," notes Gary DiSarcina, the former Billerica High star and California Angels All-Star shortstop who is beginning his second year as Lowell's manager.
The Spinners have five position players back, including left fielder Carlos Fernandez-Oliva, who hit .307 with 17 doubles and 42 RBI last summer and finished tied for fourth in the NY-PL with 82 hits. Also back is center fielder Rafael Cabreja, who hit .348 with nine RBI over his last 18 games in 2007 to finish at .250-2-25.
Right fielder Kade Keowen (.207-1-15 in 39 games), third baseman Deshaun Brooks (.208-2-12 in 34 games), and second baseman Ryan Dent (.178-0-3) with 4 steals in 11 games with Lowell, .371-1-2 in 10 games in the GCL) are also with the Spinners.
Also back is righthander Joseph Guerra (1-3, 5.48). Guerra finished strongly last year, however, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in his last five outings.
"But this can be a double-edged sword because I'm going to be expecting more out of them," DiSarcina allows, "maybe more than I should."
Chaz Scoggins - Middlebrooks didn't punt on his chance to join Sox organization
Middlebrooks was projected to be a sandwich or early second-round pick in last year's draft after going 13-0 as a pitcher and hitting .556-5-48 with 22 doubles and 22 stolen bases in 38 games for Liberty-Eylau High School in Texas. Baseball America tabbed him as the 15th-best position player available in the draft and 36th overall.
But the 6-4, 200-pound Middlebrooks was also projected to have NFL potential as a punter, and he had already accepted a football scholarship to Texas A&M. He was reportedly looking for a $1 million bonus, so MLB teams shied away.
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money recommended by the commissioner's office, it took the remainder of the summer for his contract to be approved. By then it was too late for him to start his career in the minor leagues.
The question for the Red Sox was whether to let him pitch or play the infield. In the minor-league section of the 2008 Red Sox media guide, Middlebrooks is listed as a pitcher. But he wants to play every day, and he says the Red Sox did not argue.
Although he missed a year of pro ball, Middlebrooks doesn't think he has a lot of ground to make up.
"I'm not too far behind," he says. "I went to the Florida Instructional League, and I got a lot of at-bats in extended spring training."
Nor is he concerned about the scrutiny that comes with being a fifth-round pick with a first-round bonus.
"I don't look at it as pressure," he says. "I look at is as something that will spark me."
Middlebrooks is looking forward to spending his first pro season in Lowell.
Chaz Scoggins - Keowen wants to make second stint a short stop
LOWELL -- Kade Keowen's first year in pro ball was a difficult one. But he doesn't consider it a wasted one, even though he's back in Lowell for a second summer.
Before last year's draft, Baseball America found the 6-5, 230-pound outfielder to be one of the more intriguing prospects among the publication's Top 200.
"With plus speed and raw power and a slightly above-average arm, there's not a better big player in the draft," was BA's assessment.
The Red Sox chose Keowen in the ninth round after he hit .401-10-61 with 14 stolen bases in 56 games at Eunice JC in Louisiana and signed him quickly to a contract with a $125,000 bonus. But because the bonus was above the recommended amount for the slot, the commissioner's office had to approve it, and Keowen wasn't cleared to play until the end of June.
The Spinners had been playing for nearly two weeks by then, and Keowen felt he had a lot of catching up to do. He hit .300 in his first six games, then strained an oblique muscle that put him on the shelf for another 2 1/2 weeks.
When he finally got back into the lineup, it was pretty much downhill the rest of the way.
He hit only .207 with 11 doubles, 1 homer, and 15 RBI in 39 games for the Spinners and struck out 47 times in 145 at-bats.
JetHawks Pitcher Richie Lentz Added to California League All-Star Team
The 23-year old Washington native will be making his first All-Star game appearance. Lentz has been a force out of the JetHawks bullpen this year, featuring a 3-2 record and a 2.93 ERA in 22 games. With a fastball that has been clocked as high as 96 miles per hour on the radar gun, Lentz is among the league leaders with 65 strikeouts in only 45 innings. He has limited hitters to a .171 batting average against him.
Lentz is in his second season as a Boston Red Sox farmhand. He was a 19th round draft choice in 2006 out of the University of Washington.
Lentz joins third baseman Jorge Jimenez and designated Jon Still as JetHawks named to the squad. The California League All-Stars battle a team of All-Stars from the Carolina League.
LA Daily News
JetHawks beat Visalia in extra innings
Zak Farkes had an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning to give the JetHawks a 5-4 victory over host Visalia in a California League game Sunday.
Josh Reddick, who singled with one out and moved to third on Daniel Nava's single, scored the winning run for the JetHawks, who clinched the first-half league title Friday.
JetHawks beat Visalia in extra innings
Zak Farkes had an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning to give the JetHawks a 5-4 victory over host Visalia in a California League game Sunday.
Josh Reddick, who singled with one out and moved to third on Daniel Nava's single, scored the winning run for the JetHawks, who clinched the first-half league title Friday.
International League Player Of The Week
JOE THURSTON, Pawtucket Red Sox IL BATTER OF THE WEEK Joe Thurston has been one of the top players in Triple-A Baseball since 2002, as evidenced by his three trips to the Triple-A All-Star Game and his 2006 election to the International League Postseason All-Star Team. Now, for the first time in his career, he is the IL Batter of the Week. Thurston homered in three straight games June 10-12 and drove in 12 runs for the week, tied for most in the IL. It was an unusual outburst of power for Thurston, who entered the week with just three homers on the year. Thurston also contributed in more traditional ways for the 2-hole batter, hitting .345, scoring a League-high 8 runs, and swiping two bases. He has been a major contributor all year for the PawSox, helping the team to a 42-30 record - good enough for a playoff spot if the season were over today.
28-year-old Joe Thurston was signed by the Red Sox as a free agent last December. He entered the 2008 season with a .286 average in 285 International League games with Columbus, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and Ottawa. He also played 453 games with Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League. He is a .259 hitter in the Major Leagues, having played 55 games with the Dodgers and Phillies. Thurston is a native of Fairfield, CA.
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